Fallout: Journey of the Lone Wanderer
by Lincoln859
Summary: We all know the story. How could we not? It's been passed down from parent to child for generations. The story of the man who changed the world for the better, at the cost of everything he knew. Would you like to change that? Dehumanize the almighty legend of America's Messiah?


**Memories**

A glass of orange liquid, a grey pistol, a half empty bottle of the same liquid as was in the glass, all lay upon a dusty counter, a man gazing at the battered pistol in nothing but sorrow.

_War. War Never Changes._

The morbid thought drew a chuckle from the man, his hand grabbing the glass and tossing it back, the burn of half the bottle of alcohol making him grimace.

_Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage._

_In the year __2077__, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation._

_But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes._

It was certainly true, the man reflected, and the nuclear apocalypse had only allowed humankind to reveal its baser instincts. Murder abounded throughout the remnants of the world; theft, death, rape, and destruction the new ways of life.

_In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as __vaults__. But when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them - all except those in __Vault 101__. For on that __fateful day__, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed... and never reopened. It was here __you__ were born. It is here you will die._

_Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves._

Oh, he could remember those days as if they were yesterday, his nineteen years in the vault. It was those years that had ensured he would survive when he had been forced to leave Vault 101, and indeed, had served him well during his long life.

So many titles he had been known as, so many friends who had fallen beside him and before him. Friends, lovers, comrades in arms, all dead now.

He looked at the blue overcoat lying on the counter, a black spade and blue 21 emblazoned upon the back. A mark of both his greatest success…and his greatest failure. His right arm rose up, rubbing the fabric, its smooth texture reassuring him. He took a look around the room, memorials of his many adventures and friends around it, only serving to depress him further. Several memento's stood out more than the others; an old vault 101 jumpsuit, a beaten Gatling Laser, a holotag, a plasma pistol, two old dog collars, a sheet of paper with illegible scribbles upon it, a framed quote from the bible, a pair of dog tags, and the one that struck his old heart the hardest, a damaged power fist.

'_And I always thought that old saying was bullshit.'_ He thought, snorting as an old line he had used to see in the vault passed through his mind.

_When you're so close to the end, you start to remember the beginning._

He'd read that line in so many books that it was almost a cliché, yet he was surprised at how accurate it was turning out to be. He couldn't stop thinking about life in the vault, the day everything went to hell, and, of course, the horrible day his father died. He wondered why his second grand adventure wasn't flowing through his mind as well, but he was grateful for it. He didn't think he could take the bittersweet memories of both his bigger journeys at once.

"I suppose there's only one way to get rid of them." The grey haired man said, fiddling with a glowing device on his arm for a few seconds. A pleasant female voice rang through the empty room, coming from the device.

"**Now recording."**

"Well, I suppose I'd better leave a little forward, huh? After all it wouldn't do for my story to be heard, without anyone knowing what it was about. I've seen it happen to many times in the Wastes, and I'd rather it didn't happen here.

My name is Leo Baldewin. Not entirely sure where the last name came from, but it was my dad's, so I got stuck with it. I know where my first name came from though. A constellation, Leo the Lion. That's a name that stuck with me all these years, even if only a few ever used it. Actually, thinking back on it, I can only think of a couple dozen who actually used my name outside of the vault." He stopped speaking, shaking his head to clear it.

"I'm rambling. Ah, why do I care? It's not like anyone will be able to listen to this anyways. I'm only doing this because Dad always told me it was better to talk about things than keep them bottled up inside, and seeing as all my friends are dead, my old pipboy is the only thing I can talk to. Pity really, Arcade was always good at this sort of thing. Surprisingly enough, so was Charon. Maybe it was something to do with the fact that the guy was a rock, but he was a good listener. Heh, not the best talker though.

Anyways, as I said my name is Leo, and at the moment I'm seventy-seven years old. Considering where I am, and the way I've lived, it's both a fortunate and unfortunate thing. I've been through a lot in my years, but the first nineteen were spent in a vault. Not many traumatizing memories, and only one night has found its place in my nightmares.

Nineteen years…gods, it seems so long ago, yet so close. The wounds from that day are still as fresh as they were then, now that I have nothing better to do than just laze around, reflecting upon the past.

The first ten years of my life weren't that interesting. I, and my childhood friend Amata, spent those years roaming around the vault, and when she was busy I spent the time with my dad and a few of the other adults. I've been told I was a very mature child, always rather quiet and serious, though I usually brightened up when Amata was around. There weren't any real difficulties in my life until my tenth birthday, despite some friction with the local "thugs", a group of three or four kids around my age who liked to act tough. The worst that had ever happened before that was just a few broken bones from what I called an accident, and the three of them weren't willing to go against me.

It was my tenth birthday that everything changed.

~Break~

A brilliant flash of light blinded a young child, a burst of panic flowing through him in the brief moment before a chorus of applause rang out, a collection of shouts ringing out from within the room.

"Happy Birthday!" The cacophony of voices assaulted the poor boy as his vision slowly returned, a reprimand coming from somewhere in the room.

"Stanley you turned on the lights too fast! You blinded the poor kid." He rubbed his eyes, still seeing spots here and there. A warm, caring baritone spoke up, laying to rest the remnants of his brief panic.

"Happy birthday boy!" Said his father as the child looked up at him, warm brown eyes full of happiness and love, his hand running through short brown hair as he shook his head.

"I can't believe you're ten already. If only your mother were here, she would be so…" He was cut up by another man coming up beside him, as different from the child's father as night was to day. Where one stood tall, proud, and wore an expression of pride in the youth before him, this man was slightly slouched, cold, and distant even.

"Happy Birthday young man." He started, not even bothering to acknowledge the fact that he had interrupted the man beside him.

"I don't have to tell you how special this day is, do I?" The boy almost sighed in irritation. He had never liked this man, the father of his best friend and the most important person in the vault.

"No Sir." He said, making sure that none of the icy anger he felt at the arrogant man before him was shown.

"Down here in the Vault, when you reach the age of ten, you are ready to take on your first official vault responsibilities. Here you are, your own Pipboy 3000. You'll be getting your first work assignment tomorrow." And the man stalked off, and the child's attention was drawn back to his father, who pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

"Sorry about that Leo. Here, let me help you put on your Pipboy." The device slid on easily enough, but it tightened instantly, a needle sliding into his arm as it booted up. Leo looked on in fascination as the Pipboy booted up for the first time, flashing on with the Vault-Tech Logo, before running a brief list of functions, and finally setting on an overview of his body. He looked back up at his father, seeing the man's warm, indulgent smile.

"Wonderful thing isn't it? That overview can tell me anything I need to know about the health of the person wearing the Pipboy, and it can also hold an inventory of everything you have. A very advanced bit of technology, and it's even customizable. Now, I've taken up enough of your party for the moment. Why don't you talk with the others, I'm sure several of them have presents for you." The boy nodded, happily walking past his father to speak with his impatiently waiting friend.

"Finally Leo! I thought they would never stop talking to you." Leo grinned at his best friend, a young brown-haired girl named Amata.

"Oh come on Amata! Just be thankful my Dad and I didn't start talking about medicine again." She rolled her light brown eyes at him, an exasperated smile upon her face.

"It's so boring though!" She whined playfully.

"I don't get how you can talk for hours with him about things that simply go over my head." They shared a chuckle. Leo knew he was different from other children, he had always known. Perhaps it was the result of being raised by only his father, a man who couldn't seem to deny his son anything he really wanted. And most of what Leo had wanted was to learn. He had always been fascinated by various things, and had done his best to learn everything he could. As a result, he had become rather isolated inside the vault, with his only friend being Amata, and the only others he talked to were the adults.

Amata broke him from his thoughts by wrapping him in a hug, squeezing tightly before stepping back and picking something up before he could see it, hiding it behind her back.

"Happy Birthday Leo." He nodded his thanks.

"You know I'm going to have to get you back for the surprise party, right?" He asked, making her laugh in triumph.

"Aha! I knew you didn't know! Your dad thought you were onto us, but I knew the truth." Leo laughed, long and hard, breaking down a second time once he saw Amata's confused face. Confusion quickly turned to irritation.

"What's so funny?" She snapped.

"Jus…Just that I knew about the surprise party." She looked like she'd been hit by a pole.

"I just got the place wrong, which is why I was so surprised. I figured it'd be in the commons area instead of here." Her eyes lit up in understanding.

"We thought about doing it there, but we thought you'd prefer it here." He chuckled again, before growing quiet.

"You got me with the area change, but I thought it was Butch and his gang again." The girl winced, remembering the fight that wound up with three kids staying a full week in the infirmary with broken bones, none of whom would say anything about how they got them. The three kids had quickly recovered, but they had since shown a lot of nervousness around Leo, even if Butch had been getting his nerve back recently.

"I'm sorry." Leo just smiled at her, letter her know he didn't blame her. She brightened up a minute later, her enthusiasm back.

"So, guess what I got you for your birthday?" She asked, still holding something behind her back. Leo raised an eyebrow, a wicked grin spreading across his face, much to Amata's renewed nervousness.

"A date with Christine Kendall?" He asked, laughing as Amata wrinkled her nose at the thought.

"Oh come on Leo!" Shill chuckling, he shrugged, letting her have her moment.

"Who's your favorite barbarian?" She asked with a grin, pulling out a first edition comic of Grognak the Barbarian.

"I found it in a box of my dad's old things, and it's got no missing pages either." He took it, flipping through it.

"Kind of hard to see your dad as a kid. Thanks Amata." She gave him a radiant smile and another hug, letting go as he looked around the room properly for the first time since entering.

It was one of the cafeteria rooms in the vault, and all the booths were full. An elderly woman sat in the front one, and the overseer sat across from her for the moment. A security officer sat at one of the stools facing out the window, turning around to view the room after a moment. Andy, the old Mr. Handy robot that helped out around the vault, was behind the counter, and the chief mechanic Stanley was sitting at the counter. The three kids sitting in the last booth caused him to hiss, turning back to Amata.

"What are Butch and his gang doing here?" He ground out. She growled at the reminder.

"They just showed up. It wasn't like we invited them, but your dad is too nice to kick them out." Leo shook his head. Sometimes his father made no sense. He was one of two people that knew that Leo was responsible for putting Butch and his gang in the hospital, and he does this.

"I'm going to have to talk with my dad." He muttered to himself. Amata frowned at him, but said nothing.

"Anyways, I'm going to go and greet the others. It's not fair that you get to monopolize all my time." She hit his shoulder playfully. He walked off, ignoring the halfhearted well-wishes from one of Butch's gang, a kid named Paul. He was a very wishy-washy kid, wanting to seem popular.

He walked over to the elderly woman first after she waved him over, smiling at her.

"Hello Mrs. Palmer." She smiled back, picking up a small basket from beside her.

"Happy birthday Leo. Having a good time?" She asked.

"Yes Ma'am." He replied.

"Such a polite young man. Ten years old already, my how time flies. Why it seems like only yesterday that you and your dad were arriv…oh listen to me go on, you're probably wanting your present aren't you?" He shook his head.

"You didn't have to get me a present. I'm happy with what I have." Her smile widened.

"And what a gift that is. Still, it is your birthday, and I just happen to have this batch of sweet rolls I made just for you. I know how much you love my cooking." He grinned eagerly. Old Lady Palmer as some of the other residents called her was the best cook in the vault, and sweet rolls were her speciality."

"Thank you Ma'am."

"Don't eat them all at once now, you'll give yourself a bellyache. They're all yours too, no need to share them. And I'm sure that Officer Gomez got you some Nuka-Cola, so it might be better to talk with him before you start eating." He thanked her again, walking over to put the basket on the counter next to his father. He walked up to the mechanic then, the old man smiling at him as he too wished him a happy birthday.

"Happy birthday sonny. Tell me, how do you like your Pipboy?" Leo took another look at it, fiddling with the knobs for a second.

"I think it's brilliant. Even the basic list of functions at the beginning showed an above average amount for a Pipboy. Wait a moment…" He took a look at Stanley's widening grin before looking at his old Pipboy again, then back at the mechanic.

"You fixed it up for me didn't you?" He asked. The man nodded, a prideful grin now on his face.

"I certainly did. Put a lot of work into it too. Don't tell anyone, but I added a fair few things to that Pipboy. My thanks for your help over the years. Besides, I've always preferred the A model to the 3000-B's. They were more reliable, tougher, and the Vats system works better on this one. In case Butch gives you or Amata anymore trouble in the future." Leo found it hard to speak past the lump in his throat, simply nodding his thanks and moving on.

It sometimes surprised him how observant Stanley was. Vats was a Combat-System in every Pipboy, allowing for the wearer to move at a much higher rate than normal. Leo wasn't entirely sure how it worked, but he did know that it sped up the nerve reactions, and that it exhausted the body. Of course, like all things, it would become easier in practice, but a Vats-System was designed so that the Vault Dwellers could survive in case the outside world was less than civilized once they left the vault.

He watched Andy float for a few minutes on his repulsor jets, trying to pull himself back together before going among the other guests. He'd always been close to Stanley, and somehow knowing that the man had spent probably all of his free time for the past few months working on this Pipboy struck him deeply.

"Attention everyone! It is time to cut the cake!" The robot's voice rang out, one of its mechanical arms hovering over the cake as it fired up the saw attached to it.

"Andy No!" Amata cried out over the din, but it was too late. The robot, heedless of the girls cry, brought down the saw into the center of the cake. Of course, seeing as the saw was meant for cutting wood and steel, the cake was obliterated, pieces of the icing flying all over the room, Leo chuckling as he saw his dad get wacked by a piece. The man took it in good humor, laughing as well as he at the piece that had hit his nose.

"Oh…I'm sorry Sir." The Mr. Handy said, sounding quite contrite. Leo laughed again.

"It's alright Andy. Next time though you might want to change attachments first." The robot agreed. He looked around, noticing the various Vault members going back to what they were doing. He saw Officer Gomez sit back down, having gotten up once he heard the saw start up, and moved to walk to him, only for Butch to grab his arm.

"I'm hungry, and that stupid robot destroyed the cake. Give me those sweet rolls." Leo just raised an eyebrow at the kid. Butch hesitated for a moment, but continued to demand it.

"Go soak your head Butch. You tried to flood my father's bathroom; I'm not giving you my Sweet Rolls." Butch growled.

"What did you say? You're going to get it!" He cried, taking a swing at Leo. His target caught his hand, releasing a growl of his own, a much more feral one.

"You sure you want to do this Butch? I don't mind sending you back to the hospital." He ground out as he crushed Butch's fist. He wasn't all that strong, but he was able to hurt the boy with ease. Butch paled, wincing in pain, and it wasn't long before he gave up.

"Alright, alright! I'll stop, just let go of me!" Leo did, leaving the boy free to rub his hurt hand and sit down grumpily. Leo eyed him, concerned. He could handle himself, that much was certainly true, but if Butch got the jump on him he'd likely lose. On top of that…what if he went after Amata? He eyed Officer Gomez. The man had always been a kind one, yet he was without doubt the best fighter in the vault. His family had been Security Officers ever since they'd entered the Vault, and had been policemen before that. The man was also always happy to share his knowledge, and Leo hoped he could help. Leo walked over to the security officer, grabbing the sweet roll basket as he did so, sitting next to the man.

"Hello Officer Gomez!" He greeted cheerily, acting as if his little confrontation with Butch had never happened.

"Hello Leo. Happy Birthday. Here you go, a twelve pack of Nuka-Cola for you. I know how much you love it." Leo grinned, popping one open right away, grabbing two glasses from the counter, splitting the bottle between them. He pushed it over to the officer, offering a sweet roll as well, though the man refused that.

"Thank you. Oh, Officer Gomez…I was wondering if you would teach me to defend myself." The man raised an eyebrow at him.

"From what I just saw it seems your Dad has taught you a fair bit. Most of the vault couldn't do that even with Vats." Leo frowned.

"Dad's taught me a fair bit, but we both know he isn't a fighter. He knows enough to defend himself, nothing more. But I'm worried about Butch and his gang. I can handle myself…but what if they start targeting others? He's usually smart enough to not bully others when you Security Officers are around, and I'm worried about what may happen to Amata." The man nodded.

"I don't see why not, meet me in my office on say…Wednesday and we'll start." Leo thanked him, turning around and watching as his father answered someone on the intercom. The man walked over to his son afterwards.

"Leo, that was Jonas on the intercom. He wants you to go down to the reactor level so he can give you his present." Leo nodded and left, running into Beatrice outside, who gave him a poem. He tried to avoid the woman, she wasn't entirely there. Oh, he was always polite, but she just didn't seem right.

It wasn't long before he got down to the reactor level, only having to take a flight of stairs down to reach it. He smiled at Jonas as he walked up to him, somewhat taken aback by the man's stern frown.

"What are you doing down here young man? Children aren't allowed on the reactor level." Leo glared at him, causing the man's serious façade to crumble, a chuckle bubbling up from within.

"Easy there killer, no need to get angry. Now that your ten you don't have to take crap from adults anymore."

"So what's this surprise Jonas?" He asked, cracking a smile as well.

"Your Dad will be down in a minute, I think he wanted to give it to you himself." Leo turned around and there his dad was, holding something behind his back, just like Amata had been a few minutes earlier.

"Are you ready for your surprise?" He asked, a smile upon his face. Leo nodded eagerly, and the man held out his hands, presenting a BB gun.

"Your very own BB gun. Every kid should have one." Leo was quite excited for this, as the gun was something he'd always wanted. Admittedly, it wasn't an N99 10mm pistol, or a .32 hunting rifle, or even an assault rifle, not that his dad would let him anywhere near the last one, but it was simply incredible for a ten year old boy, no matter how mature.

"Thanks dad. But where can I shoot it? Certainly not here." The elder man seemed amused.

"Certainly not, unless we want the Overseer coming down upon our heads. Come on, I'll show you where you can practice." Leo's father led him to another room, one with three set up targets in it.

"This is brilliant Dad. Thanks." James beamed at his son. He'd always been a little worried about his sons lack of friends, and the fact that his son had very little interest in doing most of the things other children did, but this sort of thing reassured him. He loved his son, and it was a wonderful thing to watch his little boy grow into a polite, intelligent, mature young man.

"Couldn't have done it without Jonas's help." His smile widened when his son turned around and thanked Jonas almost immediately. He watched the boy shoot, and it seemed he was a natural. No misses, three shots and all three targets were hit. He frowned as he heard the chatter of a certain pest.

"A radroach. See if you can hit it with your BB gun Leo." Radroaches were trouble in the vault, always showing up where they weren't wanted.

Leo breathed out slowly as he squeezed the trigger of the small gun, striking the little creature on its armored carapace. He frowned, adjusting his aim to the things head, just about the only unarmored part on it. The shot was enough to kill it.

"Good job Leo! Hey, Jonas! Get a shot of me and the big game hunter!" James cried out. It was moments like these that he was able to see the joy in his son, the happiness that might not have existed if he hadn't come to the vault. It was worth it, _he_ was worth every sacrifice he had made to get them there. If only his mother…no, he needed to stay focused on the now. Catherine was dead, there was no changing that now.

A flash of a camera announced the picture, and it would prove to be one of the favorites of both the father, and the son.

~Break~

The man downed the rest of the whiskey, standing and grabbing a bottle of black liquid. Ice rose up from the bottle as he popped the cap, frost rising from the top. He raised it to his lips, drinking deeply of the ice cold Nuka-Cola.

"Still the best drink I've ever found." He said, amused at one of the many little things in life that gave him joy.

"Anyways, from my tenth birthday on there wasn't much that was a big deal, just a few main lessons that have stuck with me to this day that I'll go over." He stopped speaking for some time, fiddling with the weathered N99 10mm pistol in front of him. The gun had served him well. It was one of the lessons from Officer Gomez that still stuck with him. They'd just finished a training session, and he'd taken a moment to explain something to him.

~Break~

Two men panted as they stood across from each other, sweating furiously and completely exhausted.

"Al…alright…that's enough…for today." The elder of the two said, his breath coming in short gasps.

"I swear, you're getting better every day Leo." The man said, watching as his companions amber eyes brightened in pride at the compliment.

"Thank you Gomez. I'm certainly trying hard enough." The security officer chuckled.

"Isn't that the truth? You work harder than anyone else I've ever seen. Sparring with me, weapons training, helping out James at the clinic, helping out Stanley with the vault mechanics…I swear no matter what job you wind up in someone's going to be upset." Leo laughed, shaking his head at the older man.

"Perhaps. Still, I'm a little upset that you won't let me practice with a few of the stronger guns. Not that I expect to ever need them, but it's better to be prepared." Herman Gomez looked at his young companion, staying quiet for some time. Leo was now fifteen, and he had matured quite well. Sandy brown hair was cut short, the bangs just long enough to shade his amber eyes, resulting in an intimidating glare when the boy was angry. A well muscled, but not bulky frame allowed for both strength and agility, and Herman didn't know anyone who could take a punch as well as the kid could.

"Would you like to know why I never let you use those weapons?" Leo looked up in curiosity. He had asked about it before, but Gomez had just told him that he'd tell him in a year or two. He wondered just what had changed.

"I would." He answered softly, sensing that this was a sensitive topic. Gomez picked up one of the pistols, a grey N99 10mm pistol. The weapon itself was nothing special, in fact it was quite common, even amongst the Vault. The armory was full of these, having been built to last.

"The N99 10mm pistol. What can you tell me about it Leo?" He asked, voice every bit as soft as Leo's had been.

"The N99 is one of the most durable pistols ever made. It was designed to be used in a variety of the old worlds harshest environments, and also so that even someone with only a small amount of mechanical knowledge could fix an almost completely broken one into a fully-functioning weapon. It holds an above average amount of power for a pistol, even above some of the smaller caliber revolvers. Despite its boxy frame, the N99 is one of the most reliable handguns around, so long as it is kept in decent condition." The Security Officer nodded at the end of the teen's explanation, adding something himself.

"All are true, though you left out the fact that is also surprisingly easy to aim, as well as being designed to have very little recoil." Gomez sighed, his voice becoming soft again.

"However…this pistol is all that is needed to kill someone." The man's green eyes bored into Leo, completely serious.

"A single round to the head will kill the one it was put into. Two shots to the torso are enough to kill, five or six with our Kevlar armor. A single shot to any of the limbs would result in a crippling injury. While those can be fixed by stimpacks, the important thing to remember is that this gun was designed to kill, as were all guns." Leo already knew this, and what Officer Gomez was trying to teach him wasn't really sinking in yet.

"This is the go to sidearm for all security officers and most military personnel. Now then, tell me why security officers don't carry more powerful weapons around?" He wanted Leo to figure this out himself. It was something that had been passed down through his family for generations, and seeing as his own son had no desire to become a security officer, the least he could do was ensure that the ideal survived.

"Because they don't need them. Even if the guard was forced into combat the 10mm pistol is powerful enough to hold up against even an assault rifle, so long as one stays in cover. It was designed to be able to do such a thing after all. On top of that, with the Vats system one security guard armed with one of these could take on as many as five well-armed soldiers and live to tell a victorious tale." Gomez nodded again.

"That's the key thing, isn't it?" Leo said, coming to a realization. Gomez smiled, with no small amount of pride in it, as a boy he had come to consider a second son finally connected the dots, just as he had at the boys age.

"We don't need anything else. Between the hand to hand combat training, the disarming training, and the Vats system, even we were to leave the vault and enter a war-torn wasteland, this simple pistol would ensure our survival. It's reliable, fairly powerful, and compact." A deeper light of understanding entered his eyes.

"And why should we need more things to kill people with…when we've got a weapon that's already claimed thousands sitting right in front of us?" Herman Gomez reached out, placing a hand upon the kids soldiers, watching as the subdued amber eyes flicked up to meet his.

"I see you've realized the truth. I know you've always known just how dangerous a gun is. How could you not? Both myself and your father have been beating it into your head for years now, ever since that first day you somehow managed to sneak my pistol out of its holster when you were seven." Leo flushed in embarrassment.

"This pistol is the most dangerous thing you can ever hold, not because of its power or its durability, but because it is so easily underestimated. There are many guns that are more powerful than this one, that much is true. But this pistol, this little gun, will keep you safer than anything you'll ever own. It's not explosive, not massive, and it's definitely not something to play around with. However, and I simply can't stress this enough, this gun is used to keep yourself safe.

Now I want you to promise me something Leo." Gomez continued, still as serious as the moment he had begun. Leo's head tilted to the side, somehow unable to speak in the face of his mentors stern expression.

"I want you to promise me that if you ever own a gun, you will use it only in self-defense." Leo started to nod, stopped only by the man's raised hand.

"Not right now. I want you to take the time to think about this, about today, and about what a gun actually means. For when you take up a weapon, you do so with the intent to harm, at the least." Leo nodded.

~Break~

Leo shook his head, ridding himself of the memory. Gomez's words hadn't made much sense at the time, despite Leo understanding the point of the lecture, but they certainly did now. He had killed hundreds with this little pistol, and it had always held a special place in his heart. Though it was eventually replaced as his preferred sidearm, this pistol had always been with him.

Gomez's lesson had been one of many on the dangers of guns, but also a more important one. Do not underestimate anyone because of the gun they carry, it can still kill you. Hell, he'd seen someone in full power armor be killed by a kid with a Chinese pistol, a particularly shitty pistol that had a nasty habit of leaving its target alive even after several headshots.

The scarred and grizzled man chuckled bitterly as he held the old 10mm pistol, downing more of the black soda. He remembered many a day when he and Officer Gomez would split a Nuka-Cola and just talk, sometimes about random things, and at others it would be Leo coming to the man seeking advice. The man had been like a second father to him, and it had been obvious that Herman Gomez considered Leo his son in all but blood within a year of beginning to train the boy.

It had been a true shame when the man had died, but it was just one of many deaths that had hit him hard. Of course, considering the circumstances of the man's death, it had hit him harder than most.

Of course training with Officer Gomez wasn't the only thing I was doing after my tenth birthday. The children of the vault were given tasks to perform around the vault once they reached that age, and with good reason. There were around a thousand people living in the vault at that time, five sections split into roughly 200 people apiece. Despite this there were several positions that were lacking in the vault, such as the one of Doctor. This was because the old doctor had died in a freak accident, his mentor having died of old age shortly before hand. Usually in the vault there were only a few doctors. Considering the very few injuries that typically occurred, it had usually been a good system.

Anyways, the tasks the children completed were designed to find the suitability of the various vault children for various things. Such as being a doctor or security officer, or a barber. He couldn't help the snort as he remembered the vaults resident "hairdresser," who had absolutely insisted upon being called a barber.

Still, Leo had been shuttled from one end of the vault to the other in the six years of tasks, but most often he was with Officer Gomez, Stanley, or his father. As such he gained an even more thorough grounding in repairs, maintenance, medicine, and talking down problems. From Gomez he had learned hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, and how to talk his way around problems. Gomez had always preferred to talk his way through things rather than fight, something he shared with Leo's father.

James had, of course, done his absolute best to teach his son everything he knew. From medicine to sarcasm, James had tried to ensure that his son wouldn't have to fight, and on the odd chance that he did, he knew more than enough put himself back together afterwards. Math, Science, History, Writing, and many other subjects were devoured between the two in James pride and desire to see his son succeed, and he had done his best to ensure his son still knew how to have fun, passing down a fairly sharp wit as well.

Stanley, having always held a soft spot for Leo ever since the boy had helped him out with a problem when Leo was six, did his very best to teach the kid. Being responsible for both the upkeep of the vault and the upkeep of the security guards weapons, the old man knew a great deal about many things. He was also responsible for making more ammunition, which he taught Leo to do. The Security Guards went through a fair bit of ammunition, seeing as they were required to be efficient and practiced with the weapons in case something happened. Stanley was responsible for replacing that ammunition, and making bullets took up a fair bit of time that would have been better spent doing other things around the vault. If Leo made more bullets than was the maximum quota for the vault armory…well, Stanley simply smiled and didn't know anything about it.

The old man smirked to himself as he held up a small necklace, a spent 10mm case threaded through a small chain. One of his old mementos, the very first bullet he had ever made, and coincidentally the first bullet he had ever shot as well. Gomez had made sure that he could make ammunition before he had allowed the boy to practice. No need to tip off the overseer that something was up, was there?

"Six years I spent working, training, and learning. Six years that I wouldn't give up for anything, for they were undoubtedly some of the best in my long life. Still, all good things must end, and my hours of free time that I spent with Amata and working on my fighting skills had to come to an end as well. One of the negative aspects of growing up. Not long after I turned sixteen I was forced to take the infamous G.O.A.T, or the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. That was one hell of a day."

~Break~

"As far as I can tell, you're a perfectly healthy young lad, so yes, you have to take your G.O.A.T. exam today." A brown haired man told his son sternly, yet still unable to hold back a smile at his sons obvious reluctance.

"Come on Dad! It's ten questions, none of which are even relevant to what we've been learning for the past ten years!" James chuckled at his son's righteous indignation. He had a right to be frustrated, one that James wouldn't deny him. The kid had worked hard for the past few years, and to have learned, though James still didn't know how, that their future was based upon ten questions of dubious quality had incensed him.

"Now Leo, I told you that it's only a personality exam. The real results are based upon the week of grueling testing that you've already taken." The glare Leo leveled at him had him wincing. A flimsy excuse, but one that worked for most students. No one was quite sure why the final ten questions of the G.O.A.T. were so important, but what the adults did know was that they were how you were assigned jobs. While exceptions could be made, they were few and far between.

"Come on Leo, it won't be that bad. Now get going, I wouldn't want your mothers ghost haunting me because her only son became a garbage burner." Leo frowned at his father, but turned and left, no small amount of irritation present in his frame. It just didn't seem right that they worked that hard for a job they wanted, one that was both needed and would help the vault, only to be assigned somewhere else because of a bullshit exam that the Overseer came up with.

He said his hellos to both Jonas and Stanley, the latter of whom was in there for help with his constant headaches of late, and left the room, heading to the classroom. Something he heard on the way there had his blood boiling.

"Get out of my way you stupid Tunnel Snakes!" He froze, Amata's angry voice ringing out through the hall. What happened next nearly had him seeing red.

"Come on Amata, I could show you a _real_ tunnel snake." Butch's voice said, arrogant and lustful.

Leo wasn't able to see straight for a second because of his anger, walking slowly up behind Butch and his two gang members, Wally and Paul. Wally heard his steps, looking back and paling, gulping and tugging on Butch's sleeve.

"What is it Wally?" The man snapped, not taking his eyes off of a still furious Amata. Leo kept walking forward, slamming Paul into the wall when the kid attempted to stop him. His hand came up, resting on Butch's shoulder, spinning him around and slamming him into the wall, same as he had done to Paul a moment ago, a feral growl coming out.

Butch didn't know what happened, one moment he was having fun tormenting Amata and the next he was looking at the scariest thing he had ever seen. Angry amber eyes glared into his soul, light brown hair shimmering gold in the light of the hallway as usually handsome features twisted into a feral snarl, a forearm pressing against his throat and cutting of the airflow.

"What did I say Butch?" Leo snarled, face a scant inch away from Butch's.

"What did I tell you the last time you tried to pull this shit?" The arm pressed harder, bruising the flesh where it was pressed against, before he relaxed just enough to let Butch breath. Leo's head turned towards Wally and Paul, his rage-filled eyes stopping any movements they might have made before they even began. He turned back to Butch, silently demanding an answer.

"T…to…stay…aw...away from…Amata." He choked out, coughing furiously, causing Leo to let up just a bit more.

"And what did you do Butch?" The young man didn't answer, couldn't, terrified for his very life by those enraged amber eyes, the snarling visage, growling at him with all the power of a furious lion.

"You just couldn't leave it alone could you? Now I want you to give me one good reason why I shouldn't put you in a coma." Leo's malicious tone sent shudders down Paul and Wally's spines, but the full effect was upon Butch, who was about to piss himself from sheer terror. He stuttered out unintelligible excuses, pleading with his captor not to harm him.

"You know what, you're pathetic Butch. I can see why your mother drinks so much; better a blind drunk then be forced to see what a useless little freak she spawned." He hissed at Butch, who was now struck by pain, in his stomach where Leo punched him and by the lion's words.

"If I catch you harassing Amata again I will make you wish I'd killed you here and now. Am I understood?" He growled, glaring at Butch's frantically nodding head. He let the boy go, the head of the Tunnel Snakes falling hard on the metallic floor of the vault, curling up into the fetal position, unable to move from fear of a greater predator.

Leo took several deep breaths as the other two boys dragged Butch away from him, his anger soon abated by a pair of arms wrapping around him.

"Thanks Leo." Amata whispered, holding him close as he returned the hug. They stayed that way for some time, before separating, heading towards the G.O.A.T. examination room.

~Break~

"Not exactly one of my finest moments was it? In the years to come I would grow to regret my harsh words to Butch that day, but only in the way that I said them. As it turned out, those words were just what he needed to change his life around. Still, I took my G.O.A.T. that day, heh, wound up being the Vault Little League Coach…for all of ten seconds, until both Mr. Brotch and I burst out laughing at the results. He changed it around for me, and I wound up as the Vault "Clinical Test Subject." God that had sounded ominous back then, but it allowed me to spend a lot of time with my Dad, who in turn let me continue my schedule much as it had been before.

Three more years I spent in that Vault, three years of learning, training, and flirting with Amata. Hell, if things had wound up different I would have been dating Amata not long after that fateful day." He sighed, popping open another bottle of whisky, draining in just a few large gulps. He chuckled after he realized what he'd done.

"Dammit Cass, you always did say you'd rub off on me someday." A tear trailed from his eye as he remembered his spitfire of a lover. Shaking his head clear of those memories, Leo continued on where he'd left off.

"Still, I am thankful for those three years. If nothing else, it was a time where everyone important to me was happy, and it was some of the best years of my life. *Sigh* Of course, everything changed that day. The day it all went to hell, and the day my life changed forever.

~Break~

"Get up! Come on, you've got to get up! Please, Leo!" A woman's voice cried in terror, waking the slumbering nineteen-year-old immediately. He was up and out of bed in an instant, fierce amber eyes narrowed and searching for a threat as the Vault alarms began to blare. His eyes snapped towards the distraught woman before him, eyes widening as he instantly moved to comfort her, wrapping her in a hug and trying to calm her down.

"Shh, shh, Amata. It's alright." He spoke, his low baritone voice washing over her, and Leo could easily feel the tension drain out of her, but it was right back a moment later as her tear-streaked brown-eyes gazed up at him.

"What happened?" He asked, voice calm and steady despite his own growing nerves. It wouldn't do either of them any good if he panicked over seeing Amata in such a state, despite this being the first time he'd ever seen her like this.

"It's…it's your dad! He's left the vault!" Icy fingers trailed down Leo's spine, eyes widening in pure shock at the announcement. Amata wasn't done yet though.

"And my dad…he's gone crazy! He's got the entire security force out looking for you, and they've got orders to take down anyone caught outside their rooms!" The fingers turned to claws, tearing at what little composure Leo had managed to regain.

"And…and…" Amata broke down sobbing again, and it was only over her tears that he heard the next part.

"They.,..kill…ed Jonas!" A knife stabbed into Leo's heart as he heard it, the knowledge that his older brother figure was dead caused him to completely clam up. Training from Officer Gomez took over, his emotions being shunted back as he took in the scene from a more detached perspective.

"I'm going to have to leave the vault, won't I?" He asked rhetorically, feeling Amata freeze against him in response to his question. She looked up at him, tears still falling from her eyes, and slowly nodded her head.

'_Breathe Leo, breathe!'_ He thought to himself, forcing himself to take several deep breaths as he planned things out. No one knew what was outside the vault, and to his knowledge this was the only time that door had ever opened. What the fuck was his dad thinking?

"Yes." Amata said in a small, heartbroken voice. He looked down at her again, once again shoving his own terror and heartache to the side.

"I need a way to leave the Vault. You wouldn't have come here if you didn't know one." He separated from her, unwilling on both parts, but it had to be done. He moved over to the other side of his room, grabbing his emergency pack right after getting dressed, irritated with the several seconds it took to lace up his boots.

The emergency pack was exactly what the name implied, a pack made for an emergency where certain parts of the vault were no longer usable and the residents had to evacuate to another part in a hurry. There wasn't much in it, just a basic first aid kit, a few days worth of ration bars, and two spare jumpsuits. Leo, having a slight sense of paranoia drilled into him from his training (There's always _something _going on Leo, whether you can see it or not), also had certain fruits of his labors inside it. Namely three full clips of 10mm ammunition, or thirty-six bullets. A remnant of his work with Stanley, not the only one, but the most accessible one at the moment.

"I…yes…how?" He shushed her, moving around his room and grabbing a few more things to place in the pack, a few stimpacks, his BB gun and pellets (it was something at least) though he had to break down the BB gun, something he was quite used to doing for maintenance.

"Amata, focus, please. We don't have much time. How am I supposed to get out of the vault?" Still lost, she held out a bobby pin and a screwdriver, voice slightly airy as she succumbed to partial shock.

"Yes…take these, there's…a tunnel to the vault entrance from my father's office. You can get into his office with these…hack the terminal, and open the tunnel." He nodded, it made a great deal of sense. The Overseer likely had posted several security guards around the main paths to the Vault door, so this was the better option. He slung the pack over his shoulders, moving to the door along with Amata. Her hand on his arm stopped him though.

He turned to her, warm amber eyes full of concern and care, nearly breaking Amata's resolve. She took something out from underneath her shirt, likely having placed it there to hide it. His eyes widened as he took in a belt, holster, and pistol.

"Amata…" She shoved them into his hands, anxious to be rid of it. From her pockets she took several clips, placing them into his hands.

"It's my father's…he had it brought up from the armory. He…he said he was going to use it on you if you wouldn't tell him why your father left." He put the belt and clips down, grabbing her head and making her look at him.

"Amata. I swear to you I had no idea what my dad was going to do." Her eyes widened in shock, and no small amount of horror.

"He didn't tell you? I'm sorry, I had no idea…" He shook his head, letting her know he didn't blame her. He picked up the belt, fastening it with an ease that had come from long hours of practice. The weight of the pistol, little though it may be, was oddly comforting against his hip as he put the clips into his pockets. He would have preferred somewhere else to carry them, but he didn't have much choice at the moment.

"Thank you for doing this for me Amata. I promise you I'll only use this as a last resort." Amata looked strangely relieved, nodding. She hugged him close, Leo eagerly returning the favor, before she snuck off, the young man wishing her luck. He had the nasty feeling that she was going to need it.

He spent several minutes waiting at his door after she left, trying to control himself, but also to ensure if they both got caught it wouldn't look like she had gone to warn him. That wouldn't be a good thing, especially considering the way her father was. The man had always disliked him for some reason.

He moved, leaving his room, hoping against hope to not run in to any of the security force. Of course, as luck would have it, that was the very first thing he had run into.

"You there, stop!" Rang out an order from an officer, followed almost immediately by…

"Shit, more roaches!" Leo saw the man smashing several of the large Radroaches. '_What the hell are Radroaches doing out? Must have been the alarms and emergency lights…'_ While the vault had always had a problem with the occasional mutated roach, this was the most Leo had ever seen at one time, and there were only three of them. Though by the Officers words, he had already fought more of them.

Leo watched as the man swung at one roach, only for a second to leap at him, biting his arm.

"Argh!" His other fist came up, slamming the roach into the ground, before kicking the last living creature into the wall, killing it as well. Despite the carapace, Radroaches were surprisingly fragile. Their threat came from numbers, and the surprising speed with which they could jump.

Disregarding his injury, the guard turned back around to face Leo.

"It's you! The Overseer wants to see you immediately for questioning about the disappearance of the Vault doctor and the death of Jonas. Surrender now or I will use force." Leo looked incredulously at the officer, who he now recognized as Officer Kendall. Not the brightest of men, he was a loyal officer and a loving father. He was loyal to the Overseer and the security chief, and while he wasn't particularly skilled, he was an effective officer.

"Officer Kendall please, I don't want to hurt you. Don't do anything hasty, think of Mary and Christine." He said, his hand on the handle of his newly-gained pistol. The man didn't even pause, charging him with his police baton.

'_I don't want to kill him…I have to knock him out.'_ He moved, working from the years of training under Officer Gomez as he dodged the clumsy swing from the baton, his open palm slamming into the man's Kevlar vest, pushing him back and stealing his breath. His other hand rose, striking the man's windpipe.

Choking, it wasn't long before the man fell to his knees, holding his throat and coughing. Leo removed the man's helmet, slamming his knee into Kendall's temple. The officer fell to the ground, unconscious. Leo stood above him, panting heavily as the adrenaline from the short fight coursing through him. He looked at the downed man, kneeling and checking his pulse. He sighed in relief as he realized he hadn't killed the man. He moved to leave, getting a few steps before he paused, biting his lower lip as he looked at Kendall's Kevlar vest. It was likely that the other officers would have guns, and that vest could easily save his life.

He unstrapped the vest, taking it off the older man and putting it on. Adjusting a few straps insured it was tight, and after a moment's thought, he grabbed the police baton as well, placing it in his pocket after removing the clips. They went into three of the eight slots for them on the vest. They were right over the ribs, enabling both easier access and a slightly larger amount of protection. After all a bullet wasn't likely to get through both an iron clip, the steel casings for the bullets, and the Kevlar vest unless it was a very high caliber. Therefore, even if it sacrificed a clip of ammunition, he would stay alive, which was worth far more than a single clip of ammunition.

He moved again, walking quickly towards the atrium of the vault, praying to not run into anyone else. The longer he spent in the vault the more at risk he was. His hand fell to his pistol again as he saw someone else approaching him, another familiar figure.

"Hey! You've gotta help me! Those roaches have got my mom!" Leo glared at Butch.

"Oh Butch, asking me for help…if only you knew what irony meant." The young man very obviously swallowed both his pride and a sudden surge of anger.

"Yeah, I know. Look, I'm sorry for always attacking you and Amata, but it's my mom man!" Leo sighed, before speaking again.

"Fine. Let's go Butch." He said. He couldn't leave an innocent to her death, regardless of how useless she was. Butch's mother had been a drunk and a junkie for longer than Leo had been alive, and it was without doubt that that was the reason as to why Butch had become a bully.

Leo stormed into the woman's room as soon as Butch opened the door, his new steel police baton extended and swinging as soon as he saw the giant roach about to bite her in the face. The roach crashed into the wall as Leo's foot came down on another, two similar crunches gaining the thirds attention, which leapt at him. For the smallest of seconds, time slowed down, Leo's baton coming up to meet the radroach and slamming it onto the ground. Time sped back up, Leo panting slightly from the exertion caused by the Vats system. It cleared up quickly enough, and he was suddenly tackled from behind. A pair of arms wrapped around him as a happy voice yelled in his ear.

"You saved my mom! You're the best friend I've ever had man!"

"That's nice Butch, now get off me." The former thug jumped back as if burned, but was still a very happy man. He looked around the room, hoping to find something to pay Leo back with. He patted himself down, and suddenly seemed to notice his tunnel snake jacket. He whipped it off in an instant, shoving it into Leo's hands.

"Here, it's the only thing I've got. If I ever see you again I'll give you something better. It's the least I can do after what you've done for me." Leo wanted to refuse it, he really did _not_ want a tunnel snake jacket, but Butch's earnest and happy face wasn't one he could say no too. He nodded, placing it in his backpack. Who knows, he might find a use for it later on in life.

He left the room, pausing for a moment as he saw more Radroaches. He saw an old lady on the ground, and praying she was still alive, he quickly killed the beasts, only to find that they had killed the woman before he got there. He recognized her as Grandma Taylor, a sweet old lady who had been one of the Vaults best cake-makers. She had made every one of his birthday cakes. A tear fell from his eye as he turned away, running from one of the many vault cafeterias.

'_Damn the Overseer! That's two deaths upon his head, Jonas and Mrs. Taylor. Why did he turn the emergency lights on? Every Security Officer in the fucking Vault has warned him dozens of times that that would cause a radroach attack!'_ Leo thought furiously as he raced up a flight of stairs, only to hear a familiar voice.

"Andy on your left! Burn them!" He froze as the angry voice of his mentor assaulted his ears, the one man he had both hoped and dreaded encountering. Still, he could not leave the man to fight roaches alone anymore than he could have left Butch's mom to them. He raced up the last few stairs, swiftly smashing the final few roaches that had been crawling towards Gomez.

The officer turned around at the sight, baton about to swing when he saw Leo, and more specifically, the baton pointed at his face, the iron-hard visage on his features. He slowly raised his arms, not wanting to fight someone he considered a son, even if all he would prove to be would be a distraction. Leo had surpassed him years ago.

"Whoa there. I'm not going to fight you Leo." The baton lowered, Leo's face softening. Gomez was torn, the boy needed to get going, yet he obviously needed comfort. Whatever he'd learned hadn't sat well with him, and the fact the he was out of his room meant that he was leaving as well. It was easy for Gomez to recognize the training he'd given the boy in play, the emotions shoved to the side in order to achieve the objective.

"You're lucky it was me who found you, the others wouldn't be so understanding. Now come on, I've got to get you out of here." Gomez entered the same state as Leo, thinking only of how he could get a boy he considered his son to safety. He was stopped by Leo's shaking head.

"No, you need to stay here. If the other guards see you with me they'll shoot you as well, and you've got a family in the vault." '_Stubborn boy!'_ Gomez cursed mentally, opening his mouth to argue, only to find the baton in his face again, Leo's face deadly serious.

"I'm willing to knock you out if I have to. I've already lost Jonas, I'm not going to put you at risk as well." The officer froze, sighing and nodding. He wouldn't be able to change Leo's mind, not with how little time the boy had.

"Fine. At least take these." He said, holding out his pistol and all the ammunition he had on him out to the boy, the full ten clips that most of the guards had taken upon leaving the armory. Eight in the chest holders and one could hold up to an additional four in slots at the back of the waist, right at the small of the back.

Leo hesitated, causing Gomez to sigh and simply slide the clips into the available holders, holding out the remaining five clips and the gun to him.

"Take it. We both know I don't need them, and I'll simply say you took them from me." Leo nodded, taking them, four of them sliding into the slots at the back, swinging his pack off to place the final clip and the pistol inside it, before re-shouldering the pack and sliding the baton into the loop at the bottom left of his vest, right at his hip. It's what it was there for after all, ease of access, just like the military-issue Kevlar vest had been created for. Even if the slots had been made for something other than a pistol clip.

"Officer Kendall is downstairs, near my room. He's unconscious, but alive. You might want to go get him if he's supposed to stay that way." Gomez pulled Leo into a hug, before separating.

"Go on, get out of here. If Officer Mack sees you…he'll try and do what he did to Jonas. I'm sorry this had to happen Leo." The boy nodded, shunting his emotions to the side again, dashing off towards the atrium. Gomez silently wished him luck…he was going to need it.

~Break~

Leo walked into the Atrium, sticking to the shadows in an attempt to avoid any guards he may find, and he almost immediately saw a man and a woman talking in hushed tones. Not really caring what the two said, he walked to the left, the door he needed to get to was on the other side of the atrium. Of course, he was unable to avoid hearing the two, and their conversation was cause for a great deal of concern.

"Come on, we're getting out of here, just like the Doc. They won't shoot us because we're residents, come on Mary!" The man dashed towards the vault entrance, running full speed, crying out to the guards.

"Hey, it's me, Tom Hold…" The sharp _crack_ of a pistols retort rang out through the room, Tom's still moving body falling to the floor, sliding through the door, a streak of red trailing behind it. The woman screamed, running towards the now dead man, heedless of the two security guards, one of whom was now aiming his pistol at her.

"TOM! Ahh!" A second _bang_, another fallen body, a crippled woman's tearstained face as she dragged herself towards the fallen body of her beloved husband. A horror struck man as he heard another shot, the woman's blood spraying across the atrium. Rage filling him, so much anger he couldn't think straight, raw instincts coming into play as he moved to the door that led to the vault entrance, listening as one of the men spoke.

"Go make sure they're dead, I'm going to go grab my baton from the other corridor where that bastard Gomez knocked it out of my hand. I'll be back in a minute."

"Alright" Footsteps leaving, footsteps coming closer. Leo closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he calmed down, the oblivious security officer walking right by him as he moved to check the woman first. Leo's foot came up, slamming into the side of a knee, an audible snap followed by a muffled cry of pain as his hand slammed into the man's throat, following through and slamming him into the ground, and the man choked to death as Leo stood, his windpipe completely crushed, hands holding his throat, mouth wide open in a desperate plea for air.

Leo watched on coldly as the light slowly faded from the man's eyes, and barely a second later he dragged him from view, propping him up against the wall near the door. Just in time as well, for he heard the other security guard calling out.

""O'Brian? Where are you? You know the Overseer ordered us not to go too far from the entrance." Still blinded by anger, the atrocities that had been committed not really registering with him yet, he called out in a passable imitation of the dead man's voice.

"Richards! Finally, get your ass over here and help me with this." He yelled out, and his response was a set of footsteps approaching him as he grabbed the police baton from his left hip, the weapon extending to its full 29 inches in complete silence. The other man came around the corner, Leo knowing him as a confrontational guard, but not much else. The baton swung, a meaty thud echoing out as it hit the man's chin, neck snapping back from the sheer force of the swing as part of the man's tongue was bitten clean through by his own teeth. He would wind up choking to death on his own blood before too long, as he fell backwards onto the ground, spread eagled and completely unconscious.

Leo's anger abated, the baton clanging against the metal floor as it fell from an unfeeling hand, Leo looking at his bloodless palms.

"W…what have I done?" He asked hollowly, knowing full well that both men were dead, and if they weren't now, soon would be. '_I…I killed them. Why did I do that? Stupid question really, they killed other members of the vault. But I didn't even think about it, didn't even consider it, just…killed them. They never even stood a chance.'_ The boy was completely oblivious to the unconscious, choking Officer Richards, who was barely seconds away from death by lack of oxygen as the newly-minted murderer pondered his palms, somehow a lot closer to the floor than he had been a moment ago.

'_I'm a murderer now…'_ Leo shook his head furiously, trying to get rid of the guilt, to rid himself of his feelings, to achieve once again that marvelous state of mind from earlier where he could simply shunt his emotions to one side, but failed.

It was several minutes before he rose, shaking, to his feet. He moved to leave immediately, wanting nothing more than to put this behind him, only for a lesson both his father and his mentors had taught him, in their own various ways, floated into his mind.

'_Be prepared for anything, even if it means doing something you would not normally consider.'_ He was being forced to leave the vault, and it had just been proven that the guards were willing to kill to keep people inside. Hating himself with every movement, but unable to find a more palatable alternative, he turned around, stripping the two guardsmen of their Kevlar vests, along with their security helmets, placing the two vests and one helmet, the bloody one from Richards where the man had spat blood unconsciously in an attempt to survive, into his bag, thanking the makers of the vests that had created them for easy storage, thus allowing him to fold them.

He gazed unhappily at the helmet before he put it on, the shrapnel-proof glass sliding down over the larger part of his face. The glass would stop a bullet, but hadn't been created to do such a thing, merely created to shield the eyes and face in case of an explosion. Of course, considering the amount of force behind most explosion-propelled shrapnel put the glass in decent shape to block lower powered weapons, such as handguns. No more than two, perhaps only one, or perhaps none at all (it wasn't guaranteed after all), but it was a bit of reassurance.

The batons, pistols, and clips also found their way into his bag, safeties on and organized so that neither the weapons nor the clips would slide anywhere. Satisfied, if still disgusted with himself for looting the dead, he ran, running faster than he ever had before, desperate to get away from the dead bodies.

Of course, fate had a different story in mind for Leo, one with considerably more blood.

"You!" Screamed a man, charging Leo with a baton as the boy rounded a corner. Instincts took over, forearm rising and colliding with the man's wrist, the baton stopped cold, his other fist striking the man in the stomach, not doing much more than push him back because of them mans vest. Leo's own baton was out in a moment, dodging a clumsy swing so that he could slam the steel weapon into the security guards arm.

"Ahh! You bastard! I'll kill you!" The man screamed, switching hands as his left hand now swung the baton up at him, Leo's right hand catching the man's wrist. Fear was clear in the man's eyes as Leo kept on moving, breaking the wrist with a sharp twist, causing a scream of pain. He spun; right arm dragging the man's left with him, jerking the officer off balance as his left hand brought the baton down upon his neck, the solid steel breaking the fragile bone.

Leo didn't allow himself to think about the third man he had killed, merely taking the armor, helmet, and baton and moving on, only to be stopped by a harsh voice as he came to the security office.

"Now tell me where he is Amata! I won't ask you again!" A familiar, tear-filled voice spoke up in response, as he watched the Overseer interrogate his only daughter.

"I told you, I don't know. I was going to warn him when you caught me!" Alphonse shook his head disappointedly at his daughter, raising a hand and gesturing at the security officer in the corner. Officer Mack, the murderer of Jonas. Leo drew his pistol for the first time since putting it on, walking slowly towards the office door listening for a reason to shoot. The door sliding open went unnoticed by all inside the room.

"Please Amata, I don't want to hurt you, but Leo is currently a threat to the safety of our vault." Amata furiously shook her head, causing her father to sigh, gesturing to the officer beside him. Officer Mack's baton rose, the man aiming for her face even as a sharp _crack_ split the room, blood spraying out of the man's head as a bullet went through it. Mack fell forward, heedless of the horrified, blood-splattered Overseer he used to serve, as Amata took advantage of the moment to race out of the room.

Alphonse turned, furious, glaring at Leo with nothing but hatred and anger in his eyes as he held at gunpoint by Leo.

"I hope you're here to turn yourself in young man. Otherwise things will become even more unpleasant." For all the fury within the Overseer, it was nothing compared to the rage that was consuming Leo.

"Turn myself in? I'm not the one who started killing people!" Alphonse immediately defended himself.

"Get off your moral high horse boy, you just killed one of my officers! And he wasn't the only one you've killed today was he?" Leo spoke right back up, his voice quiet and cold when compared to the Overseer's shouts.

"Yes, I've killed four people today. Each of them were responsible for the deaths of at least a dozen others, per person. So I think I have the right to accuse you. And what's even worse? You willing to abuse your own daughter. You have always claimed that it was my violent nature that was a problem for the vault. Are you sure it isn't the abusive father we have for an overseer?" Alphonse winced, visibly.

"I had no choice. But very well, you've made your point…and I wouldn't have gone through with it in the first place." Said Alphonse, muttering the last part under his breath.

"Amata will not be punished for your transgressions. Now, surrender your weapons, and I will spare your life. I might even let you out of the vault detention cells every now and then." Leo barked out a bitter, angry laugh.

"That's about as likely as you giving me the key to your office and the password to your terminal." _Not that I need the latter. It's ridiculously obvious.'_ He grabbed the Overseer by the shirt, tossing him into the security cell, shutting and locking the door, the great Overseer of Vault 101 locked inside.

Leo ignored the man's shouts, instead looting the room of everything he might be able to use outside. He expected the worst, and doubted he would be pleasantly surprised. Three more Kevlar vests were folded up and placed into his pack, along with five stimpacks, a full bottle of Rad-X, three packets of Rad-Away, two 10mm pistols, three boxes of sixty bullets, which totaled a hundred and eighty 10mm rounds, not including the ones he already had. Finally, a spare vault utility jumpsuit, made to work in the deeper portions of the vault, and as such it was remarkably resilient.

He left, walking into the Overseer's quarters, spotting a distraught Amata sitting at her desk.

"Thank-you. I told you my father was mad!" He patted her on the shoulder, knowing that she would have to work through this grief and betrayal herself.

Picking the Overseer's door was easy, hacking his terminal equally so. However, what he was truly surprised to find was that the vault had been opened before!

'_Giant ants, Megaton, scouting reports?'_ Leo's head spun as he tried to absorb the truth behind the lies that he had been fed every day of his life. He raised his left wrist, fiddling with his pipboy. It only took a moment to mark down where this Megaton settlement was on the map feature. Admittedly, it was pre-war maps, but he could set up new markers to navigate with. At least it was very close to the vault. He'd be able to learn everything he needed to about the "Capital Wasteland" in that place."

A push of a button had the overseer's tunnel opening, and all too soon he was standing in front of the vault door. A massive creation of steel and titanium, the door could survive a point-blank nuclear explosion with naught but a few dents. He flipped the switch, alarms going off all throughout the vault, as Amata came running up by his side, words pouring out of her mouth like water from a faucet.

"You did it! You actually did it!" That was all he was able to hear, though he knew she kept on talking. The moment was hitting him again, the knowledge that he was about to leave everything he had ever known and cared about behind…because his dad chose to abandon him.

Warm arms wrapped around him, a hurried goodbye whispered in his ear as Amata pushed him towards the door as the two heard security officers banging at the door. Tears streaming down both the teens faces, Leo cast one look back at Amata, before turning, and taking his first step out of Vault 101, and his first step into the first layer of hell.

AN: No, I am not abandoning "My Shinobi Way." I've just been playing a great deal of Fallout 3 and New Vegas recently.

So, my combat system will be slightly more realistic than the games, or some other fallout fanfiction I've read. No "Super" Lone Wanderer, no cheap victories, everything that he has, he works for. Also, no bullshit like "Oh, you shot me in the head, critical hit, with the Destabalizer (like 149 dam per shot) and I'm a poorly equipped raider? Guess what bitch? I survived!" Also, the perks I've given him are ones that fit. I've included an explanation for the ones I created. This chapter I'll layout his stats as they were WHEN LEAVING THE VAULT! That's very important people, so make sure you read that again. The stats and reasons laid out below this paragraph is the way Leo was WHEN FIRST LEAVING THE VAULT! Ok? Good.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

Strength: 7

-Leo has worked for years to become strong. He can throw one hell of a punch, and can carry a fair bit as well. Years of training under Gomez, as well as the heavy lifting under Stanley, have given him a lean, yet powerful force.

Perception: 8

-Leo has been trained to be observant, both from James and from Gomez, the latter of who was a security officer, whose very job was to look for things out of the ordinary. He's picked up a fair few things under their guidance. As such, Leo can read body language, and lips.

Endurance: 6

-Despite his years of training, Leo's never really been required to take a hit. He knows how to shove pain to the side, and he can take a fair share of hits, but he isn't a juggernaught. Not only is he not built for it, he's also developed a rather keen desire to avoid getting hit, or shot, or stabbed, or strangled. I wonder why?

Charisma: 8

-Leo's a fairly charismatic kid. When his temper doesn't get the better of him he is quite capable of talking his way out of most messes, and thanks to his knowledge of body language, knows just what buttons to push to get the results he wants.

Intelligence: 9

-One does not simply be raised by a doctor and become a complete idiot. Much less so after nine years of hard work put into learning. He's fairly talented at many things, able to think logically and strategically. While not a true genius, his level of intellect is nonetheless higher than the majority of those out in the wasteland, and it shows.

Agility: 9

-Leo is fast, his body lean and toned, more suited towards avoiding hits than taking them. This speed has always served him well in the Vault, and he was without doubt the fastest runner in it. Boasting an incredible hand-eye coordination, Leo was always more suited for life in the wasteland than life in the vault

Luck: 6

-How does one even define luck? Things seem to go Leo's way more often than not, but that could be attributed towards his own skill rather than any luck. Regardless, Leo is both a lucky and unlucky man, and it will show.

Tagged Traits

Small Guns: 45 (60 if using 10mm pistol)

Years of using only small weapons have given Leo a high understanding of them, even if he lacks experience in using them. The 10mm is his current weapon of choice, and is the only gun he has used before. Nine years of working his ass off with it has ensured he knows what he's doing with it. However, his lack of experience with other weapons in this category have ensured the otherwise low rating.

Unarmed: 65

Nine years of heavy training with all of the friendly security guards. Kind of obvious that he would be very good with his bare hands.

Repair: 60

Years of helping Stanley all over the vault has ensured that he knows how to upkeep almost anything, and if he doesn't, it isn't that hard to figure out.

Traits

Barter: 30

He knows what to do, just has no experience doing it. He's never had to trade for anything after all. However, his natural charisma and intelligence would see this trait rise swiftly.

Big Guns: 15

Theoretically he knows a great deal about them. However, the fact that he's never even held a big weapon ensures he has very little skill with them.

Energy Weapons: 15

Same as big guns.

Explosives: 40

Leo is familiar with the care, safety precautions, and upkeep of most standard explosives. He theoretically could disarm a nuke, but only because they were made to be easy to disarm.

Lock pick: 25

He is well aware of how to do it, and has done it a few times, but needs a lot more experience before he can gain any true level of skill.

Medicine: 50

Raised by a doctor. Come on people.

Melee Weapons: 35

Included in his training, but he never really got into them. This will likely change.

Science: 50

Once again, raised by a doctor/scientist, and he goes around helping Stanley maintain computer systems.

Sneak: 35

Knows what to do, and has shown an aptitude for it, but lacks experience.

Speech: 50

Three years of settling disputes in the vault pays off by introducing a fairly smooth-talking Leo into the wasteland…provided he keeps his temper.

Perks

Daddy's Boy

Swift Learner (Rank 3)

Comprehension

Educated

Iron Fist (Rank 3)

Gunslinger

Jury Rigging

Friend of the Night

Quick Draw

Intimidating Presence- A step down from terrifying presence, Leo has the ability to _convince_ certain people to just give up instead of fighting. Typically this is done on those of weak will, or those high as fuck.

Scribe Counter (It's not unique to only the scribes of the Brotherhood)


End file.
